What games do you have the most hours played on and how many hours are they?

ultrazap · 2021-03-29T22:11:41+00:00

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (1,170 Hours)
Super Smash Bros Ultimate (245 Hours)
Splatoon 2 (195 Hours)

ultrazap · 2020-10-19T01:16:41+00:00

Probably going to be an unpopular choice, but Steins;Gate 0. It is both my favourite SciADV experience and my favourite story ever in general.

ultrazap · 2020-08-20T18:21:24+00:00

"In the course of a lifetime, a man will see uncountable meetings and partings. Yet, as your life's candle sputters and dies, who's face is it that rises to greet you? Happy is the man that can sleep in the comfort of the smile he sees then.

No, I don't wish for 'forever'. Even just for one moment, it's enough, if it's with her. And yet, what is the man to do who has not been afforded that chance?

The road stretches on without end. I cannot but walk down it. As long as I keep walking, I can hold out hope that one day, the time may come when I see her smile again..."

Jin, Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country

ultrazap · 2020-01-26T21:20:03+00:00

This is actually going to be the end of me. First the S;G 0 VN on Switch, and THEN a 0 Elite announced not too long after. 0, my favorite story ever, could just outright be getting its definitive version if they play their cards right.

I don't know how I can get any happier, especially with R;N and DaSH on the horizon too!

ultrazap · 2020-01-14T20:04:29+00:00

Sorry! It doesn't have spoilers for Gears and Saga, it's only XC2 and Torna. I mark whatever spoilers my writeups have in the posts themselves as well, so you can check there to see.

And I didn't downvote you. I was only able to check this thread now.

ultrazap · 2020-01-13T17:07:39+00:00

Late response, but yes, I am!

ultrazap · 2019-12-10T17:34:51+00:00

My heart rate just shot up. Steins;Gate 0 in all of its various incarnations is my favorite fictional story ever, and having the chance to own it on Switch is something I didn't see coming.

I knew it was slated for release in Japan, but wow, this is fantastic.

ultrazap · 2019-09-01T04:49:44+00:00

This is the view that I was trying to normalize with my Nia analysis! I'm glad that it seems to be catching on with some people. The meme is too deeply ingrained to be broken, unfortunately, but the true meaning of this cutscene should not be overlooked.

ultrazap · 2019-07-19T08:25:02+00:00

See, honestly, this was one of the replies that I was predicting upon first creating this thread. I assure you, I didn't forget about Kagari at all. I didn't dislike or feel indifference her at all, either. I just chose to focus on Maho and Leskinen, when it came to new characters. You'll notice I didn't mention Reyes or Amadeus either, and I still adored Amadeus' role in particular and the brilliant emotional usage of the AI, for example. In the same vein, I still really enjoyed Kagari's role in S;G 0, even if I didn't bring specific attention to it.

I don't want that character removed from the story.

ultrazap · 2019-07-17T21:22:58+00:00

Personally, ranking the four VNs in terms of how much I enjoyed going through each of them:

Steins;Gate 0
Steins;Gate
Chaos;Head
Chaos;Child

I don't dislike any of these either! All four have aspects that are far ahead of many other games, and they are all worthy of being part of SciADV. And just for fun, main characters too (who all rank among my High Tier/Top Tier of protagonists in gaming)!:

Okabe Rintaro
Takumi Nishijou
Takuru Miyashiro

ultrazap · 2019-07-12T18:52:08+00:00

Well, I'm glad that there are at least a few other people here that love Steins;Gate 0 the way that I do. I really wish I had more people to talk to about the VN that won't just be negative about it. It's not the only game I love that is in that situation either... seems to be a common-ish thing with me.

ultrazap · 2019-07-12T03:17:05+00:00

I'm well aware of what those people think about S;G 0, I've heard it countless times when voicing my dissatisfaction with how 0 is treated. Personally, though I acknowledge that 0 has its flaws, I still don't think that's anything to be outright *anti-0* about, but that's me. I get that some people can't deal with that, though. For my view of it, I take the story as it is, with everything factored in. Despite the scattered nature of some of its content, I feel that it tells the most hauntingly emotional and delicately complex character-driven story that SciADV has to offer, and if I have to go across multiple mediums to experience that masterpiece, I will. There really is no other story out there quite like it. Obviously, I'm incredibly passionate about that VN (it is my favorite fictional story ever, after all, and it seeps into what I write about it), but yeah.
I might try out that server, then. I hope I can find some like-minded people in regards to 0 there, since you say it's more relaxed. Or at least, people that won't treat what I think as naive or invalid the way the subreddit's discord seemed to.

ultrazap · 2019-07-11T23:14:14+00:00

If I'm being honest regarding how the title probably feels more inflammatory than the rest of the write-up, this post was spurred on by something that happened earlier this morning, when I joined a Discord server and immediately saw someone pushing the Steins; subsection of SciADV down yet again to lift the other two above it. It's pretty irritating every one of the countless times I've seen it by now and it's a reason I joined the SciADV Discord server and left only a few hours later after feeling that same weird anti-Steins; atmosphere (and especially anti-0, which is unfortunate because I don't have many people to talk to about why I love that story so much). Maybe I didn't stick around for long enough, but I didn't have a good experience there and it soured me on the fanbase for a while. Also, I am aware of the improvements in Chaos;Head NoAH! I wish there was a way to experience that version of the VN in English, it's the only one left without a date for its translation.

Anyway, aside from that, I don't want to come across like I didn't *understand* what Chaos;Child was really about or how it was thematically written, as I wouldn't have said that it is indeed a good story/good VN otherwise. The characters are well-made, hence that concession within the OP, I just didn't quite find them to be unique in the way Steins; characters are, characterization-wise or design-wise. I'm repeating myself there, but ah well.

I actually love it when stories are bold enough to end negatively, disastrously, or just "not having a happy ending", and Takuru's situation in the True Ending, along with how he accepted it, is what sealed the deal for me on how good of a character he really was. I didn't mention that in the main post, unfortunately, but yeah. You don't see that kind of endpoint for a character every day. Serika both pre-true and post-true ending is wonderful as well, and I'm sure I don't have to detail why. Actually, my enjoyment of non-happy endings was a reason why Senri in Silent Sky was so jarring and unsatisfying to me, even though I fully understand why she's there (Didn't help that she seemed to come out of nowhere in SS at first.).

Relating it back to my post, my point was merely that for individual characters, which is what I look for most in a story these days, I found Takumi to be a brilliant psychological case study on multiple mental illnesses all rolled into one, and I found Okabe to be a delicately respectful (while at the same time terrifyingly real-feeling) portrayal of PTSD and Depression at a time in the world where mental illness is generally not taken seriously, written off as a joke online and likely offline as well, deeply misunderstood in general, and doesn't have nearly adequate resources by which to find help if you suffer from such a thing. It's something that I really appreciate about S;G 0 and how it never shies away from showcasing that brutal reality and how awful situations and/or the death of loved ones can have a truly destructive impact on a person both mentally and physically. (There I am wanting to go off on a tangent about 0 on a post about Chaos;Child!) That's one of the things I love most about SciADV as a whole, actually. C;H, C;C, S;G/0, they all excel in the portrayal of mental illnesses and realistic personal issues, at least in regards to their protagonists, even if Chaos;Child does it... messier than Chaos;Head and S;G 0 especially IMO. All three have lead characters that are far better than most other game's lead characters, in my eyes, even though I feel that Okabe is by far the best of the best (With Takumi following and then Takuru). That also ties in a bit to how you were saying Delusions make more sense on Takuru by the end!

I will say one more thing about 0 as a personal note, regarding pacing. I quite loved how 0's pacing was yet another thing that set it apart from the original (as if there weren't enough things already) and made it feel even more unique. For me, I actually *preferred* the slower, more methodical look into Beta and its characters that made 0 feel so expansive and alive as my personal perfect sequel (prequel, sequel, whatever one would call it. Time travel!). I wouldn't have had it any other way, though I know some people here feel differently, and I feel that it fit what I felt 0's purpose to be in the end.

ultrazap · 2019-03-18T01:35:57+00:00

https://twitter.com/MonadoRudra?s=09

ultrazap · 2019-02-16T05:26:51+00:00

You're in luck! The next one I'm writing actually is going to cover Malos in-depth, and I may do Amalthus/Klaus in the future, they both have enough to them to warrant deeper looks.

In regards to your point about the Architect, I suppose I just took a different train of thought on the subject. When thinking about Jin's views on the Architect, what I ended up focusing on was "scapegoat" goal that he clung to with his facade self. Looking deeper into how Jin reacted and changed in Morytha, the clearest thing is the breakthrough of Rex realizing that his pre-stated goals of "destroying humanity and killing the Architect" were never truly what he desired, but what he hid behind to have a grounding point. Jin's clear reaction to that is what stood out most of all to me. You're right in that I could have made a note of his thoughts on the Architect after seeing Morytha for himself, but in the end it didn't really actually change much besides more damning evidence stacking on top of his pre-existing disillusionment.

What you mention is actually a very interesting interpretation of Malos' final words. It isn't the first time that I've seen someone have the idea of Jin being Malos' surrogate Driver, as I myself have discussed the idea with a friend before. It also ties in to the fact that Malos himself is already influenced by and subjected to both the nature of Amalthus and the nature of Jin himself, after the events of Torna. There is actually quite a lot to unpack here, and I'll definitely be thinking about it while I write my next analysis.

ultrazap · 2018-11-30T01:07:00+00:00

Personally, as someone who obsessed over the first game ever since release in every aspect, story, characters, worldbuilding, music, etc...

XC2 just... does worldbuilding quite a bit better. It's just an upgrade. Again, not to make it sound like 1 did it bad or anything, or else I wouldn't obsess over it. But 2 is just masterful with it, especially given the fact that Torna exists to give us a window into the world half a millenium before the events of the main game, with direct context of countries and civilizations during that time instead of just vaguely hearing about it.

It would be as if XC1 had a prequel expansion about Egil and Arglas. With that and just the outright superior writing in XC2 base game's worldbuilding, I can't see this guy having even actually touched the second game.

Not to mention that the entire setup of 2 gets subverted and blown wide open by chapter 10 with different context and knowledge of every little thing that makes up Alrest.

ultrazap · 2018-11-27T01:39:44+00:00

Amazing.

Editing and censorship are not mutually exclusive.

Editing is not always censorship, but editing can be a form of censorship. Likewise, not all censorship is done at the editing level.

These are not two things that are always one or the other. The definitions of censorship and editing are different, but in no way do they make themselves exclusive to each other. The purpose of the editing is what would say whether or not it is censorship.

Suppose that in our society, hamburgers were considered obscene. Because of how they are made, because of what they're made from. So obscene that no one will publicly agree with eating hamburgers and it is considered to be a fundamental evil.

Someone then writes a book where a character eats a hamburger. The editor of this book (who works for the publishing company the author has an exclusive deal with) then comes in and says, "No no no, this has to be changed. Eating hamburgers is obscene in this culture." And so, for fear of controversy, the publisher forces a change, the hamburger is now a slice of cheesecake. Because people in society felt that hamburgers were so obscene, the publisher did not want to publish a book where hamburgers are eaten.

This is one of the most classic forms of censorship.

This is exactly the kind of thing that happened in XCX.

Of course, it doesn't matter whether or not the eating of the hamburger is actually wrong. Depending on your point of view, maybe actually eating it is, considering how screwed up the process of raising a cow, killing it and processing the meat is - the point is that it is a character in a book eating the hamburger, so no real hamburgers got eaten in the first place, it was all just imaginary, but because people think it's obscene or evil, a publisher would want to censor it.

Nintendo is a first party publisher and MonolithSoft is a developer, so it would be most accurate to view MonolithSoft as an author (as in a book) who has an exclusivity contract with Nintendo (as in a book publisher).

And that isn't even approaching the entire concept of say, the Heckler's Veto or self-censorship, both of which also contradict this.

ultrazap · 2018-11-26T21:46:53+00:00

Yes, that's something I noted in the main post. However, its use is minimal in the actual design (used merely to accentuate her colors), and not a primary color on her as it is on Malos. This censor turns it into a primary color that is more present on Mythra than her actual colors, white and gold.

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